This week introduced the new Google SPYW (Search Plus Your World) which has fallen sharply into a love/hate divide by Google users across the world.  The feature will be used on Google to give more personalised search results aimed at the individual user, based on previous searches and who and what they have on their Google+ profile.  In theory, the SPYW will continue to use personalised information to give users access to a range of information across the web, but unfortunately Google, once impartial, has inevitably become accused of nepotism.

Google has always been used as a search engine to look at other external websites and links, however now results will generally include Google+ photos and posts, including your own and those shared with you, Google+ pages relevant to the specific topic of interest and Google+ profiles of those you’re already following or might be interested in following. Thus external links will be pushed down the search results page. This has angered the likes of Twitter and Facebook, who now are less likely to be clicked on, and results for celebrity searches once linking to their Twitter and Facebook account, will now link to their Google+ profile first and foremost, which will inevitably be empty.

Here is just one example in video form of the hostility toward the new Google SPYW, which uses Hitler for comic effect: https://twitter.com/#!/search/spyw/slideshow/videos?url=http%3A%2F%2Fyoutube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DipkSRwgVtpA

Although I think that this idea may not work, Twitter and Facebook are obviously against it for their own self-interest. For users, the option is left to switch back to the old search style at any point. The new Google will combine social networking and network knowledge to create something innovative.

And for us journalists this step forward is only to work in our favour. Soon to follow will no doubt be the ‘Google News Plus Your World’. As Google tries to integrate social networking into every corner of their business, the groundwork has been laid so that our Google+ profile can easily be linked to our work. Soon enough it will be easy to see real people behind the work that is read online every day. As Google put it:

‘When reporters link their Google profile with their articles, Google News now shows the writer’s name and how many Google+ users have that person in their circles. For the lead article for each story, Google News also shows that reporter’s profile picture and enables readers to add them to their Google+ circles right from the Google News homepage.’ (Quote from Charles Miller, BBC- http://bbc.co.uk/journalism/blog/2012/01/who-wants-google-to-get-person.shtml)